The revenue in the Indian books market is expected to reach USD 5.83 billion in 2025. Displaying a CAGR of 3.19% between 2025 and 2029, the market volume is expected to reach USD 6.61 billion by 2029. These numbers highlight the strong demand for books, making India a lucrative market for online booksellers. India has a deep-rooted literary culture, home to renowned authors, Nobel laureates, and a vast readership spanning multiple genres. The market is diverse and dynamic, from students and academicians seeking educational resources to avid readers exploring fiction, self-help, and spiritual books.
With the rise of eCommerce and digital payment solutions, selling books online in India presents a huge opportunity. However, your business’s success depends on the right strategy. This blog will explore the key steps involved in selling books online.
Steps to Sell Books Online In India
Here are the steps you must follow to sell books online in India:
1. Find a Source
The first thing that you will need to figure out is the source that will help you earn a decent margin. For deciding the source of the books, you need to be clear about what kinds of books will you stock? You need to find the types of books that can sell easily in India; educational, fiction and spiritual books have a good market value in the country. You can source these books from either the retailer or the wholeseller.
A Retailer will sell you a limited number and variety of books, which you can test and try to decide whether they sell or not. Hence no bulk dealings, else forget the profits.
Upon testing the waters, you can opt for the Wholesaler. You must find the nearest but largest wholesaler to make optimal profits. Remember, small wholesale dealers keep a large profit margin for themselves.
2. Choose a Platform
When selling books online in India, you must decide whether to sell them through your website or eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. These online marketplaces offer high traffic, easy logistics, and built-in trust, but they charge commission fees and impose restrictions on pricing and branding. Selling through your website gives you full control over branding, pricing, and customer data, but it requires significant investment in marketing, website maintenance, and logistics.
Instead, you can use a hybrid approach and sell on your website and online marketplaces to maximise sales. Start with a marketplace to build a customer base; later, you can drive this traffic to your website. Consider direct-to-consumer (D2C) platforms, which provide an easy way to set up an online bookstore without technical expertise. You can also leverage social media commerce platforms like Instagram Shop and WhatsApp Business to expand your reach further.
3. Create a Product Catalog
The most basic requirement that your online bookshop will ask is a simple cataloguing. If we visit our nearest library or bookstore, we see neatly stacked, piled, and cataloged rows of books. It helps the seller and the customer find quickly what they need. So, when you plan on running a colossal online bookstore, you definitely need a robust cataloging system and books delivery in place. Check out the easy steps on how to catalog:
- Divide the Books into Sections
By dividing the books into sections while allow smooth navigation for customers. For example, design a catalog for two main categories- academic books and non-academic books. Then make a sub division of these two categories based on their content. For academic section, you can segregate books based on their Subjects, while for non-academic you can sub-head them as fiction, non-fiction, or general. It sounds a cumbersome process, take help from a simple cataloging software system for quick and easy job.
- Describe and Price
Describe your books in short and easy summary, followed by deciding on their pricing. You are running an online bookshop that needs money, thus, price your books with smaller profit margin in the beginning only to increase it gradually as your store gains popularity. Use sales gimmicks with offers and discounts to attract readers and expand the loyal customer database.
- Presentation
You must present an attractive image of the book. You can focus on the key poster or a series of images from the book to draw the reader’s attention. A very important part of making sales through your website is by doing an excellent work in designing the website. A colorful, simple, and user-friendly website easily attracts customers as empowers them to browse the product catalog in a quick and efficient way.
Furthermore, with Smart devices gaining rapid popularity your online bookstore must be mobile ready, as many customers like to surf books while on the go.
4. Set Competitive Prices
Pricing can make or break your online bookstore’s success. Research competitor prices to determine a competitive range. Instead of setting a static price, you can use dynamic pricing tools that adjust prices based on demand, seasonality, and competitor rates. This ensures that you remain competitive while maximising profit margins.
To attract buyers, offer bundle discounts, limited-time deals, and loyalty programs. For example, create subscription models where customers get discounted books monthly. Seasonal promotions during events like Diwali, Book Fairs, or World Book Day can drive bulk sales. Moreover, free shipping thresholds (e.g., ‘Free delivery on orders above ₹500’) can encourage higher cart values and improve overall revenue.
5. Marketing & Advertising
Once your online bookstore is set up, you need to advertise it via offline and online marketing channels to ensure smooth books delivery. You can deploy direct marketing techniques such as physically distributing the flyers, or use paid advertisement services on TV and Social Networks like Facebook, and even advertise on third-party websites sell on via Google Ads service.
For free marketing and advertising of your online bookstore, you may want to launch e-mail marketing campaigns, popularize your web store with White Hat SEO techniques like fuelling the Web with informative and engaging content for the readers. Make sure the content is keyword-rich to generate organic incoming traffic, eventually leading to sales.
6. Payments
Previously, the online bookstores did not avail the COD (Cash on Delivery) method of payment, but the trend has caught up with the sellers. COD might sound like a risk to you, but it will help you drive more traffic to your online store. Some customers may feel jittery about the usual online payment methods like Net Banking, credit card and debit card payments; for them COD is highly preferred. Thus, keep both online payment methods and COD open if you want to improve sales.
7. eCommerce Logistics & Fulfillment
Efficient logistics is crucial for online book sales. You need to decide between managing inventory in-house or using third-party fulfillment services. If you store books yourself, ensure you have a reliable inventory management system to track stock and prevent overselling. If you prefer not to manage warehousing, you can opt for dropshipping. It’s a cost-effective alternative, where suppliers handle storage, shipping, etc.
Partnering with courier aggregators can streamline delivery across India. Offer multiple shipping options, such as standard, express, and same-day delivery, to enhance customer satisfaction. Clearly communicate delivery timelines and return policies on your website to build trust. A hassle-free return process can encourage hesitant buyers to complete purchases, boosting conversions.
All these small gestures will definitely help you grow your sell books online in the Indian business. If you have more tips to share with our readers, please do.
Conclusion
Selling books online in India is a lucrative opportunity, given the country’s vast and diverse readership. By sourcing books wisely, organising a well-structured catalogue, building an attractive and mobile-friendly website, and leveraging smart marketing strategies, you can establish a successful online bookstore. Offering multiple payment options, ensuring timely delivery, and maintaining customer trust are key factors in driving long-term success. With persistence, competitive pricing, and a customer-centric approach, you can tap into India’s thriving book market and build a profitable online business.
To streamline your shipping process, you can use Shiprocket, one of India’s leading eCommerce logistics solutions. Shiprocket offers cost-effective shipping, automated order fulfillment, and seamless integration with multiple courier partners, ensuring timely and reliable book deliveries. Shiprocket can help enhance your customers’ experience while optimising your logistics.
i want to sell some of my novels. please help